Washington County hit hard by expired emergency benefits

Bonamici seeks extension

When President Barack Obama summarized the State of the Union during his annual address Tuesday, the state of employment in Washington County remained grim, even as the unemployment rate dipped slightly below the new statewide low of 7 percent.

But the unemployment rate is a poor metric of out-of-work job seekers, accounting only for those who are eligible for unemployment benefits. At the end of last year, 2,366 Washington County residents were cut from that pool as Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits ended, and Congress did not vote to extend the program, as it has done since the Great Recession began in earnest in 2008.A bill to provide a temporary three-month extension of emergency benefits stalled and ultimately died in the Senate two weeks ago.

This has angered U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Beaverton), who last month warned that a failure to offer such benefits will ultimately have a devastating impact on the local and federal economy.

There are various ideas out there that have been proposed to fund the programs extension, Bonamici said during an interview with The Times on Wendesday. One of them that has been discussed (is using) savings from the farm bill that I have to go vote on in just a moment.

That bill would lower spending by about $2.3 million, partly through $800 million cut from the federal food stamp program.

A total of 19,145 Oregonians lost EUC benefits at the end of 2013. City-specific records are not kept on unemployment numbers, but according to Tom Fuller, the communications manager at the Oregon Unemployment Department, the average duration of an unemployment claim in Washington County was just over 34 weeks  with extended benefits, the state offers up to about 46 weeks of unemployment benefits, which are on average $320.30 each week.

Emergency Unemployment Compensation funding is four-tiered, with the first 14 weeks of additional benefits available to those who have been seeking full-time employment for 27 weeks or more. EUC offers up to 47 weeks of additional benefits that are variable based on the states unemployment rate.

Jobless applicants are eligible for EUC funds after they have exhausted two other levels of unemployment benefits. The first tier is largely state-funded, with Oregon offering up to 26 weeks of payment to eligible applicants. The Extended Benefits program, which has been federally funded since 2009, offers up to 20 weeks of additional compensation and is available depending on the states unemployment rate.

Congress must renew benefit extensions each year, and had done so since the EUC program was established in 2008.

Last year, Bonamici met with several residents from the 1st Congressional District who were classified as longterm unemployed, meaning they had been out of work for six months or longer.

She recalled a man who had worked in retail sales for more than 20 years, and whose wife was disabled. Without emergency benefits, he expected to become homeless.

Another woman had an master of business administration degree.

Bonamici noted many longterm unemployed were mature workers, with experience and qualifications.

I will continue to advocate for the extension of the EUC, there is not a vote scheduled for that, she said Wednesday. (The EUC program) is not a lot of money, and (not having it) makes it harder for people to find jobs. If they cant afford gas in their car, or to pay their cellphone bill, how do we expect them to get to job interviews? To get a callback?